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Hiera
Hiera is part of the Ellis system in Hex #0605. Hiera Hiera is the home world of House Crux, located in the Ellis system alongside Gats. It is a tundra planet, broken up by vast mountain ranges and deep, cold oceans, all frozen over for most parts of the year. Hiera produced its own life, including a race of sentient semi intelligent aliens that became the apex predator in their ecosystem using primitive tools. When humans first colonized the planet, the primitive native civilization was crushed and now the local alien life serves the empire. The City of Ven When the Crux ''first touched down on Hiera over a millennium ago, it landed in a relatively verdant river valley just above the Hieran equator. It was named the Ven River Valley after a heroic figure long-since forgotten, and it would soon become the site of Hiera's largest city. With a population of over a ''billion, the Ven River Valley has long since left its pastoral roots behind. Today, a wasteland of steel, black glass, and concrete stretches for thousands of square miles around the poisoned River Ven. The Imperial School of Law On the banks of the River Ven, not far from the downtown district, is the campus of the Imperial School of Law. Here, lawyers and judges from across the Empire, from the highest Crux noble to the commoner who will never rise above his city's court system, are trained in the Highest Law. The Memorial to the Martyrs of the First War When humanity first came to the sector, its progress was hindered by a variety of dangerous alien civilizations. The First Emperor begged and pleaded for them to understand humanity's birthright, that it was the will of God that the sector be colonized by mankind, but they responded only with fire. Millions of humans were killed in the brutal fighting, and this memorial was erected in their honor. The Oberlandesgericht The Oberlandesgericht, better known as the Imperial High Court, is a towering building, somewhere between a Gothic cathedral and a skyscraper, and it is from here that the entire Judiciary is managed. It sees only the most significant of cases, and it was from this building that the Oberster Richter Crux Malleus Toreon passed Judgement upon the traitorous House Cygnus. It was here that the Emperor Cygnus was to be held on trial, before his life was suddenly cut short by a Serpens assassin. The Hammerberg Mountains The Hall of Ancient Princes The great fortress known as the Hall of Ancient Princes is nestled deep within the Hammerberg Mountains. Here, the Prince's Council meets. The Church of the Mother of Mercy At the base of the Hammerberg Mountains lies the Church of the Mother of Mercy, a titanic cathedral also known as ''The-City-That-Is-A-Church. ''In the distant past it was some sort of alien holy site, but today it stands for the glory of Crux's patron saint, the Mother of Mercy. The Church is a winding maze of corridors, alcoves, statues, stained glass, and confessional booths boasting a population of almost five million. It is here that House Crux liaises with the five branches of the High Church and holds all of its religious ceremonies and festivals. The Halls of Precedence On Hiera, beneath the Church of the Mother of Mercy, there is a library and memorial to the dead and the rule of law. Built together by Crux, Fornax and Lyra in a more unified and peaceful time, the Halls of Precedence, located underneath the Church of the Mother of Mercy, are a place for reflection, debate, and learning. The noble judges and inquisitors of the house are preserved there by Neshmet trained serf-technicians in translucent coffins. A cunning Fornax-built system exists to bring these coffins to the center of the Halls for special events and debates, of which more will be said later. When a member of House Crux expires, House Lyra’s Morticians from the Order of Neshmet remove the organs and preserve the body. A large wake is then held in remembrance of the dead nobles contributions to the House and to the law of the empire. Their investigations, cases, and judgements are brought forth. Whether successful or not, all is laid bare at this time. Cases and investigations are re-enacted by actors from House Lyra and the merit of their cases and decisions is debated by members of House Crux. After sermons of the Ten Virtues from the High Church, the celebration culminate in the Specification. Every dead member of House Crux, unless they were a truly horrendous example, has their most important case or investigation named after them, replacing its former numeric designation. Once these ceremonies are completed, the preserved body is brought to the Halls of Precedence and placed along with small tokens of their life in a glass coffin. Small chapbooks, produced by House Lyra, are offered, describing the contributions to the laws and justice of the Empire. Many members of House Crux who seek to emulate a particular ancestor or relative will carry these books with them and read from them prior to momentous trials in their lives. The Halls of Precedence are more than solemn catacombs however. They are a courtroom. The grand amphitheater holds events, organized by House Lyra and Crux together, where a dead ancestors life can be debated for its merits. House Crux knows that nothing is beyond re-examination. No case is ever so closed it cannot be reopened. The grand amphitheater has very rarely been used for special trials as well, when long closed cases are brought forth once more, with the relevant dead members of House Crux lying in attendance over the duties and judgements they still bear. Colonized Population A neighboring world has successfully colonized this less-advanced or less-organized planet, and the natives aren't happy about it. A puppet government may exist, but all real decisions are made by the local viceroy. Enemies: * Suspicious security personnel * Offworlder-hating natives * Local crime boss preying on rich offworlders Friends: * Native resistance leader * Colonial official seeking help * Native caught between the two sides Complications: * Natives won't talk to offworlders * Colonial represssion * Misunderstood local customs Things: * Relic of the resistance movement * List of collaborators * Precious substance extracted by colonial labor Places: * Deep wilderness resistance camp * City district off-limits to natives * Colonial labor site Hatred For whatever reason, this world's populace has a burning hatred for the inhabitants of a neighboring system. Perhaps this world was colonized by exiles, or there was a recent interstellar war, or ideas of racial or religious superiority have fanned the hatred. Regardless of the cause, the locals view their neighbor and any sympathizers with loathing. Enemies: * Native conviced that the offworlders are agents of Them * Cynical politician in need of scapegoats Friends: * Intelligence agent needing catspaws * Holodoc producers needing "an inside look" * Unlucky offworlder from the hated system Complications: * The characters are wearing or using items from the hated world * The characters are known to have done business there * The characters "look like" the hated others Things: * Proof of Their evildoings * Reward for turning in enemy agents * Relic stolen by Them years ago Places: * War crimes museum * Atrocity site * Captured and decommissioned spacehsip kept as a trophy Police State The world is a totalitarian police state. Any sign of disloyalty to the planet's rulers is punished severely, and suspicion riddles society. Some worlds might operate by Soviet-style informers and indoctrination, while more technically sophisticated worlds might rely on omnipresent cameras or braked AI “guardian angels”. Outworlders are apt to be treated as a necessary evil at best, and “disappeared” if they become troublesome. Enemies: * Secret police chief * Scapegoating official * Treacherous native informer Friends: * Rebel leader * Offworld agitator * Imprisoned victim * Crime boss Complications: * The natives largely believe in the righteousness of the state * The police state is automated and its "rulers" can't shut it off' * The leaders forment a pogrom against "offworlder spies" Things: * List of police informers * Weath taken from "enemies of the state" * Dear Leaders's private stash Places: * Military parade * Gulag * Gray concrete housing block * Surveillance center Moon Khal, the Convict's Moon This grey planet is the smallest of Hiera's three moons and serves as a holding cell and prison facility for those convicted by the Imperial Justice, before they are sent to Gleipnir. The moon is a honeycomb of passages and cells, and the barren, airless surface is just as much a deterrent to escape as the guards themselves. Prisoners here are in constant flux, with some moving down to permanent holdings on Hiera, while others are sent off to prisons across the sector. The moon is home to the Stahlmond Academy of Criminal Justice. The Academy serves as the training ground for Scharfrichters, the executors of the Imperial Punishment.There are whispers that it is also a staging area or possible headquarters for the secretive Cathars, but those reports can be confidently dismissed as mere conspiracy theory. Throphe, the Noble's Moon Long before the Scream, when the Terran Mandate still ruled the galaxy, Throphe was terraformed from a lifeless rock into a recreation of the primeval German countryside- dark forests, deep lakes, and snow-capped mountains. Nowadays, it is the place where nobles go to get away to relax in their luxury chateaus. The forests and seas have been seeded with all manner of Earth life to hunt. Vailami, the Soldier's Moon Also known as ''the Blood Moon ''due to its unique red coloration, Vailami is the second-largest of Hiera's moons and the second-most habitable. As such, it is the largest Crux military base in the sector. Orbital Ruin Semeykin IV '''Occupation: '''Trigger-happy scavengers '''Situation: '''Trying to stop it awakening Category:Planets